Rayquaza

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Rayquaza
Image:Rayquaza.png
National Pokédex
Groudon - Rayquaza (#384) - Jirachi

Hoenn Pokédex
Groudon - Rayquaza (#200) - Jirachi
Japanese name Rayquaza
Evolves from None
Evolves into None
Generation Third
Species Sky High Pokémon
Type Dragon / Flying
Height 23 ft 0 in (7.0 m)
Weight 455.2 lb (206.5 kg)
Ability Air Lock

Rayquaza (レックウザ Rekkūza?) are a legendary fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise.

Rayquaza represents the Pokémon Emerald video game and is featured on the game's box art. It is the third of a trio of legendary Pokémon known by fans as the Trinity,[citation needed] alongside Kyogre and Groudon. Rayquaza represents air or sky, while Groudon and Kyogre represent land and sea, respectively.

Rayquaza's name is derived from the English word ray and the English word quasar, describing how Rayquaza live under the influence of solar phenomena such as the rays of the Sun. The derivation from the word quasar is likely either a misunderstanding of what a quasar really is, or an indication of a cosmic origin. Although not apparent in the Romanization alone, the katakana rendering of the name also contains the Japanese word for sky ( ?).

Contents

[edit] Biological characteristics

Rayquaza are based on the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl and the Jewish Ziz. Rayquaza resemble a large emerald-green snake or imperial dragon. They have skinny arms and no legs, as well as pairs of rudder-like wings and two horns protruding from their heads. Some have likened their aerodynamic appearance to that of a contorted missile.

Rayquaza reside within the ozone layer of the Earth and have lived there for hundreds of millions of years without ever descending. To those who have observed Rayquaza from the surface of the planet, Rayquaza have always appeared to be zooming meteors. Rayquaza feed on water and particles in the Earth's atmosphere. Due to its extreme age and living conditions under the rays of the sun, Rayquaza has been tempered to wield incredible power. This power is said to be equal to, if not stronger than, that of Mew and even the legendary Mewtwo, Lugia, and Ho-Oh.[citation needed]

Rayquaza are capable of calming any disturbance in nature, be it a storm or drought. This is reflected in his ability Air Lock, which annuls all weather effects. It is said to descend from the ozone layer if Kyogre and Groudon were to fight, in order to break up the feud and maintain the balance of nature.

[edit] Role

[edit] Pokémon video games

Rayquaza is available in Pokémon Ruby, Pokémon Sapphire, and Pokémon Emerald only, where it is found on the roof of the Sky Pillar.

In Pokémon Emerald, Rayquaza is seen in a series of cutscenes. Once the player progresses past the Magma and Aqua Hideout, Kyogre and Groudon wake up and start fighting, with the Red and Blue Orbs unable to control them. The player must journey up the Sky Pillar, where encountering Rayquaza causes it to fly off, and another series of cutscenes appear. Then Rayquaza returns to the Sky Pillar, where it can be battled and caught before the player faces the Elite Four; Kyogre and Groudon, however, are not available for capture until the player has defeated the Elite Four.

Rayquaza appears as a final boss character in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games at the top of Sky Tower and is playable if recruited by the player. Perhaps in reference to its position as the moderator of fights between Kyogre and Groudon, in these games Rayquaza is presented as a rigid upholder of what he considers the laws of nature — land Pokémon remaining on the land and sea Pokémon remaining in the sea. The protagonist and their partner are sent to the Sky Tower to convince Rayquaza to destroy a falling star hurtling towards the planet; once there, however, Rayquaza attacks. After it is defeated, Rayquaza quickly recovers, but before it can continue to fight, the star enters the world's atmosphere, and the protagonist's partner asks Rayquaza to destroy the star, to which Rayquaza acquiesces after some persuasion.

Rayquaza also appears as a boss character in Pokémon Ranger. In this game, it is capable of whipping up powerful gusts of wind and firing energy balls from its mouth to damage the player's Capture Styler. This is the final boss in the game, not counting the Ranger Net missions.

In Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Rayquaza can be captured every other time it is defeated in its bonus stage.

Rayquaza is an extremely fearsome offensive force among legendary Pokémon, with extremely high Hit Points, Attack, Special Attack and Speed stats, as well as above-average Defense and Special Defense, having one of the highest base stat totals in the game. Rayquaza possesses the unique ability Air Lock, which negates the effects of weather in battle. Rayquaza can also learn the HM move Fly naturally, similar to Salamence.

[edit] Pokémon anime

Rayquaza is featured in the seventh Pokémon movie, Destiny Deoxys. Four years prior to the main events of the movie, Rayquaza is nearly injured in the ozone layer by the passage of a meteor containing the essence of Deoxys. Once the alien Pokémon awakens on the ground, Rayquaza's Hyper Beam seemingly blasts it out of existence. Four years later, Rayquaza travels to LaRousse City, sensing that Deoxys has revived itself there. It wages a fierce battle with Deoxys and its clones in the airspace of the city in order to minimize damage, but the fight still causes massive destruction.

After Deoxys finds what it had been searching for, it attempts to beat Rayquaza into submission; however, the security system of the city goes haywire, and suddenly every human and Pokémon in the area is in jeopardy of being swarmed to death by security cubes. Rayquaza is shielded from the ensuing flood of cubes by Deoxys until Ash manages to shut down the system. Rayquaza realizes that Deoxys isn't an enemy, so it returns to the ozone layer while Deoxys returns to outer space.

A Rayquaza was seen in the movie Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea being shot at by missles. It was then captured by an unknown organization and was experimented on for their evil deeds.

[edit] Pokémon trading card game

Rayquaza in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.
Rayquaza in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Rayquaza has appeared eight times in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, all as Basic, Colorless Pokémon except when otherwise stated:

  • EX Dragon (as Rayquaza EX)
  • EX Deoxys (as Rayquaza EX, and as Rayquaza "star")
  • EX Emerald
  • EX Delta Species (as Rayquaza δ; a Steel/Lightning dual type)
  • EX Holon Phantoms (as Rayquaza δ; a Steel/Water dual type, and as a Fire type)
  • EX Dragon Frontiers (as Rayquaza EX δ; a Lightning type)

Like most Dragon-type Pokémon, Rayquaza's TCG attacks require mixed elements of Energy, in this case Fire and Lightning.

In the EX Delta Species and EX Holon Phantoms sets, Rayquaza has good resistance and retreat cost, but is contrastingly weak against Colorless Pokemon.

[edit] References

Notes
    Publications
    • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Ruby Version and Sapphire Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., 2003. ISBN 1930206313
    • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Colosseum Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., March 2004. ISBN 193020647X
    • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed Version & Pokémon LeafGreen Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
    • Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0-7615-4761-4
    • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5

    [edit] External links